1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed to the field of data acquisition and, in particular, to a data acquisition system having selective communication capability.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In the commercial laundry field, state-of-the-art commercial laundry appliances today incorporate data accumulation and communication capabilities. For example, switches or electro-optical detectors may be provided to monitor certain aspects of machine operation, such as monies deposited, cycles vended, certain door openings, power failures and other useful information. These data may be retained in electronic memory within the appliance and subsequently communicated to a portable collection unit, such as a hand held probe or computer. Systems of this type are described, for example, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,369,442 (Werth et al.); 4,216,461 (Werth et al.) and 4,306,219 (Main et al.). In such a system, the laundry appliance is provided with an appropriate means for establishing communication with an external device, such as an infrared optical communication link.
The prior art approaches for permitting communication between a data probe and a data acquisition unit as described above have many limitations. In particular, the data acquisition systems of this type are system dedicated. The data probe interrogates the data acquisition unit of the appliance and the data acquisition unit responds by sending records of information it has accumulated. The problem, however, is the inability of either the data probe or the data acquisition unit to communicate with other data acquisition systems. For example, a first type of data acquisition system would have a data probe and data units compatible with one another but not with other data acquisition systems. A second type of data acquisition system would suffer from the same disadvantage. Thus once a data acquisition system is selected, neither the data probe nor data unit may be replaced by a probe or data unit from another data acquisition system.
This presents a disadvantage to an owner who initially purchased a data acquisition system comprising several appliances having data acquisition units and a compatible probe and later replaces some or all of the appliances by appliances having data acquisition units from a different data acquisition system. The owner would then have to purchase a second probe that was compatible with the new appliances. Not only does this increase the expense of the system and limit the owner's choice among data acquisition units, but the route operator must now carry two probes in order to communicate with all of the appliances on his route. The incompatibility of prior data acquisition systems thus complicates the data collection process and adds to the expense of such systems.
It is desirable to provide data acquisition system having selective communication capability thereby enabling the data acquisition system to communicate with various data acquisition units and probes. Such flexibility permits the owner or route operator to communicate with the appliances without having to replace the data acquisition units or purchase alternative probes.